Truth, Justice...All That Stuff Redux

Certain truths bear repeating, no matter how self-evident someone says they are, so I'm recycling last year's July 4th post this year with a couple additions.

Some random thoughts as we listen to the sounds of disposable incomes being BLASTED! to smithereens this Fourth of July.

1) The first from Thomas Jefferson. I have a t-shirt that says this:

What country can preserve its liberties if rulers are not warned from time to time that the people preserve the spirit of resistence?

2) Next, something that wins my vote for the most stirring speech from the bench this year, courtesy of U.S. Judge John Coughenour in his sentencing of would-be terrorist Ahmed Ressam.

Okay. Let me say a few things. First of all, it will come as no surprise to anybody that this sentencing is one that I have struggled with a great deal, more than any other sentencing that I've had in the 24 years I've been on the bench.

I've done my very best to arrive at a period of confinement that appropriately recognizes the severity of the intended offense, but also recognizes the practicalities of the parties' positions before trial and the cooperation of Mr. Ressam, even though it did terminate prematurely. The message I would hope to convey in today's sentencing is two-fold: First, that we have the resolve in this country to deal with the subject of terrorism and people who engage in it should be prepared to sacrifice a major portion of their life in confinement.

Secondly, though, I would like to convey the message that our system works. We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, or detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant, or deny him the right to counsel, or invoke any proceedings beyond those guaranteed by or contrary to the United States Constitution.

I would suggest that the message to the world from today's sentencing is that our courts have not abandoned our commitment to the ideals that set our nation apart. We can deal with the threats to our national security without denying the accused fundamental constitutional protections.

Despite the fact that Mr. Ressam is not an American citizen and despite the fact that he entered this country intent upon killing American citizens, he received an effective, vigorous defense, and the opportunity to have his guilt or innocence determined by a jury of 12 ordinary citizens. Most importantly, all of this occurred in the sunlight of a public trial. There were no secret proceedings, no indefinite detention, no denial of counsel.

The tragedy of September 11th shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism. Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete. This is a Constitution for which men and women have died and continue to die and which has made us a model among nations. If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won. It is my sworn duty, and as long as there is breath in my body I'll perform it, to support and defend the
Constitution of the United States.

We will be in recess.

3) We certainly will. Wake me when the bell rings, so I can go to class to sleep. Then there's this little reminder from the past that if we do not pay heed to it, we probably will repeat it (cough):

4) Aw, damn, I can't end it on that note. Go here. Good speech. Well-written. Inspiring. I miss that.

5) Then there's Robert Heinlein's "This I Believe" from the 50's. Go here.

6) Finally, *WHEW* the last word from Berkley Breathed.

No. I get the last word. For a number of years I had a tradition on July 4th: I would go down to the flag mall at the Seattle Center and attend the swearing in of the new batch of citizen-Americans put on by the Ethnic Heritage Council. They were graduates of the process and this was their moment of "Pomp and Circumstance." They had toiled, they had learned, they had desired and quested and they had accomplished their goal. They had earned the right to be a citizen of this country. They knew their responsibilities. They knew how our government worked. They could without a moment's hesitation take on the sacred mantle of "Voter," and make their decisions not only heard, but acted upon in accordance with the Law of the Land.

It is inspiring to see their faces: the pride, the joy, the tears. One could not know their back stories, but one could see in their faces that that was left behind, and that a new future, full of promise, lay ahead. In the face of a new citizen is the glory of freedom and possibility, and one needs to be confronted with that every so often to grab you by the shoulders and shake the complacency and cynicism from your mind--to dust off the cob-webs of ennui and apathy.

To draw back the curtain and see the light again.

There are some in the highest level of government who would take that patriotism and use it against us...and they have, very effectively...with their own brand of cynicism that only values those freedoms that give them an advantage, or those freedoms that can be circumvented to their own purposes. They value them as little as they do the lives of those who have sacrificed their all to defend the freedoms they so flagrantly sully. For all their talk of patriotism, I think they see the truly patriotic as chumps. But it wouldn't be the first time they've underestimated something...or anything. History will decide their fate. History is something the short-sighted never take into account. But it only re-affirms that chilling Bruce Springsteen caution "Blind faith in your leaders...or in anything...will get you killed." Never truer than it is today.

But blind faith is only that which doesn't see, or refuses to see. In the eyes of the new citizen, faith is never blind and in swearing allegiance to the United States of America, their new home, they see possibilities that we might not be able to see right now. But it is still there, nonetheless.

You just gotta have a little faith.

"Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so's he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That's what you'd see. There's no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties. And, uh, if that's what the grownups have done with this world that was given to them, then we'd better get those boys' camps started fast and see what the kids can do. And it's not too late, because this country is bigger than the Taylors, or you, or me, or anything else. Great principles don't get lost once they come to light. They're right here; you just have to see them again!"

"I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don't know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for. And he fought for them once, for the only reason any man ever fights for them; because of just one plain simple rule: 'Love thy neighbor.' And in this world today, full of hatred, a man who knows that one rule has a great trust. You know that rule, Mr. Paine, and I loved you for it, just as my father did. And you know that you fight for the lost causes harder than for any others. Yes, you even die for them, like a man we both knew, Mr. Paine."

"You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked. Well, I'm not licked. And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. Even if the room gets filled with lies like these, and the Taylors and all their armies come marching into this place. Somebody will listen"

Jefferson Smith

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The Naturalization Ceremony will be held at Noon at the Fisher Pavillion at the Seattle Center. Naturally, it's free.